


Don't Think All Day

by loveandallthat



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Friendship, Graduation, M/M, Mostly Gen, of the people who are graduating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-20
Updated: 2017-07-20
Packaged: 2018-12-04 19:37:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11561931
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/loveandallthat/pseuds/loveandallthat
Summary: Dex closed the door. “Nursey, I still can’t talk about Lardo leaving without panicking--oh, yep, there it is, thanks for that. The point is, I’m not going to laugh at you.”For NurseyDex Week day 5: Hurt/Comfort. Now with second chapter for NurseyDex Week day 6: Soft.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Can't believe I made it this far. As usual, no beta, please let me know if you find an error. I tried to use an already canon hurt to comfort in this fic because... I just don't like to invent pain ~~what do you mean I'll never be a good writer with that attitude~~.
> 
> Title from Rent--What You Own.

Graduation brought a lot of weird feelings up in every member of the SMH team. Most of them were sadness and nostalgia, of course, but everyone dealt with them differently. Plus, Dex tended to add worry, and Bitty was proud of everyone, as he kept saying. Shitty and Jack too, and they were probably the least sad--those bastards, Bitty had said, through his tears.

Chowder was sad, too, but he was legitimately happy for people in a way that some of the team members seemed to be having more trouble expressing.

Dex had stopped despairing about Lardo’s exit after he’d gotten to know Ford, but he was still sticking close to her. Nursey was mostly just glad that he was over being mad at her about dibs, but he was kind of clinging to Lardo, Ransom, and Holster in equal measures as well, trying to get as much time with them as possible without monopolizing them.

But before they knew it, it was already time for everyone to leave. Dex’s ride wouldn’t be there until later, and Nursey was waiting to book transportation back until last minute. So when Nursey thought he could take a break, get some air, by going back into Lardo’s old room, he got interrupted.

It was his room now, but it was also Dex’s, he reminded himself, as the man in question walked through the door and froze.

Nursey had been sitting on Lardo’s bed. After a while of sitting on her floor while she was at her desk, he had eventually been given bed-sitting privileges, granted they were strictly platonic. He was always willing to help Lardo with papers, when they would come up, and Lardo was always willing to talk, or to read anything Nursey had written--just for tone, he always clarified, and she would smile. She was great at reading between the lines, anyway.

Possibly Dex’s sudden stop was more due to the fact that in this specific instance, Nursey may have been crying. Like, really barely.

“Don’t laugh at me,” he said, immediately.

Dex closed the door. “Nursey, I _still_ can’t talk about Lardo leaving without panicking--oh, yep, there it is, thanks for that. The point is, I’m not going to laugh at you.”

Being called “Nursey” by Dex was a new development. It shocked him into sitting up, at least.

“You wanna sit?” he asked Dex, who did so without answering verbally. “I used to spend a lot of time here, once I’d graduated from the floor. Lardo’s just… so fucking smart, and real, and I’m going to be worse off without her here. And if she has to write any papers in the future she’ll be… well, actually, she can just email me.”

“I’m pretty sure she can help you from afar, too. Nursey?”

“Yeah?”

“I’m sorry I acted like you didn’t deserve dibs,” Dex said. “I didn’t know what you’d done for her, but I still shouldn’t have assumed.”

“Thanks,” Nursey said. He was crying a little less now.

“Is this a ‘please don't talk about it’ situation?” Dex asked softly, after a moment.

“No, I'm going to think about it anyway. Go for it.”

He didn't immediately go for it, looking around the room and fidgeting a bit.

“How are we ever supposed to be as good as Ransom and Holster?” Dex asked finally.

“Is that all you're worried about?”

Dex snorted. “No. I'm starting easy.”

“You're right; that _is_ easy. We'll never be as good at them. We'll be different. And awesome.”

“Do you really believe that or are you just trying to be chill?”

Nursey frowned at that. “I'm not faking anything. I'm just not worried about it _because_ I believe we'll be great.”

“Well now you’re just making me sound bad,” Dex joked. “It’s more about Ransom and Holster being good than us not being good.”

“I know,” Nursey said, because he did. This year especially, there teamwork was starting to take shape. Even though they hadn’t gotten as far as they’d hoped, it was obvious to everyone that they had started to truly click--and that it was only the beginning, that they were going to go much further.

“But we’ll also be upperclassmen, now. I mean, we’ll never teach everyone as much as they did, but I’d like to think we can be some kind of supportive.”

Nursey grinned. “You’re forgetting our secret weapon: Chris Chow.”

“Oh, shit, you’re right. We’re going to be fine.” He paused for a few seconds, looking at his hands. “I’m going to miss them, too. Not just logistically.”

“Yeah,” Nursey agreed. “Fuck.”

“Sorry,” Dex said, “For reminding you.”

“Like I said, I was still thinking about it.” He looked over at Dex, who had started looking like Nursey felt. Then he stood up and tackled Dex to the bed.

Dex fought back, of course; Nursey huffed out a breath when he was flipped onto his back instead, Dex looming over him. He was kind of taken aback by Dex’s skill.

Then Dex leaned, allowing himself to fall to the side, arranging himself so he was lying on his back next to Nursey.

“Let’s hang out next year,” he said, the words coming out in a breathy rush. “I don’t want to fight--no, we’re going to fight. I don’t want to fight like people who hate each other.”

“I don’t hate you,” Nursey said, turning so he could at least sort of see Dex. “I just disagree with you. A lot, and often.”

“Same,” Dex said. “That’s what I’m saying.”

Nursey debated what to say next, not wanting to ruin a possible truce, but also pretty sure of what was important for him to get out. “OK, but you do realize that’s what I wanted from the start, right?”

“Yeah,” Dex admitted. “Sorry.”

“All right, stop apologizing; it’s a weird look for you. Yes, I know I’m not even looking. I can still tell. Don’t roll your eyes at me.”

“I wasn’t,” Dex said.

“Damn,” Nursey lamented. “That would have freaked you out if you were, though.”

“Sure, Nurse.”

Nursey sighed then. “I still can’t believe they’re gone.”

“Yeah,” Dex said, bumping his hand against Nursey’s. “Me either.” Nursey laced their fingers together and Dex didn’t pull away.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Waking up.
> 
> For NurseyDex Week Day 6: Soft

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No beta, please don't hesitate to let me know if you find an error.

Dex woke up holding hands with Nursey and groaned. Seriously? This was his life now? Sure, he said he wanted them to get along better, but this was weird, right?

He tried to get out slowly and smoothly, but Nursey grabbed his hand tighter. It could have just been a sleep reflex, but Dex didn’t buy it. “You awake, too?”

“Mm-hm,” Nursey mumbled. “Where are you off to?”

“I was just going to finish packing,” he answered, even though he already did that morning.

Nursey laughed at him. “Poindexter, we’re literally surrounded by all of your already packed stuff.” his eyes were closed, so he must have been paying attention earlier.

“My parents are going to be here--”

“In a few hours. Just stay here and rest. Conserve energy for the trip back.”

Dex scoffed, but still let himself drop back down. “Is that what we’re doing? Conserving energy?”

“Sure,” Nursey agreed readily. “Definitely not figuratively clinging to the only person currently left in the Haus.”

Dex glared pointedly at their still-linked hands, but Nursey’s eyes remained closed. “Bitty’s going to be back soon,” Dex said instead.

“I’ll ask if he wants to join,” Nursey promised.

Their fingers were barely tangled now, and Dex could definitely leave if he wanted to without getting into a petty physical fight. But this bed was actually pretty comfortable, even without linens, and he’d gotten up pretty early in the morning to bring all of his stuff over to the Haus, since they were required to leave the dorms by noon.

He was going to have a long drive home, anyway, since his father would want to take a break after the drive down. It’s only fair, anyway. So Dex stayed, even though he didn’t fall back asleep as easily as Nursey. He scanned over Nursey’s face, since he didn’t spend much time staring at him when they were both awake, thought about how every frustrating part of his teammate was contained _right here_ in this sleeping, peaceful body, and he squeezed his eyes shut.

Not helping.

\---

They both woke up to the sound of Bitty getting back and closing the front door; he didn’t slam it, but they were only lightly dozing anyway, the sun still filtering in through the blinds of the now-curtainless window.

Nursey must have moved in his sleep, but it looked like Dex did, too. The only place they were touching now was where Nursey’s foot was tucked slightly under Dex’s ankle, so Dex turned to sit normally, feet on the floor. He was still a bit out of it.

“Thanks for staying,” Nursey said, like Dex was doing him a favor, instead of doing pretty much nothing.

“When are you going home?” Dex asked instead, because he’d realized that he didn’t know.

“I just figured I’d wait until everyone else had left, and then catch the train. Well, everyone except Bitty, in case Jack’s coming here, or something.”

“Wouldn’t Jack just bring Bitty to Providence? It’s not that far,” Dex whispered, since Bitty was there now. “Even if he’s still hiding from his parents, it’s fine as long as he’s back at Samwell in time.”

“You’re surprisingly good at the gay subterfuge game, but maybe Jack just… likes it here?” Nursey suggested. Dex had kind of forgotten about that possibility.

Dex bit his tongue on any confessions he may regret in the future. “Fine, all right, I forgot that he might just want to hang out here.”

“I’m totally projecting,” Nursey said. “Because I’d want to stay here if someone else was, too.”

“Don’t you like Manhattan?”

Nursey propped himself up slightly. “I do, actually. I really do. I just have better friends at Samwell. Sometimes I want to take all of you guys around the city but then I think, maybe the magic’s in the place, you know?”

“I know,” Dex said carefully, “but I think it’s in us. Look at Ransom and Holster, Jack and Bitty--Jack and Shitty. It has to be in us.”

“I’d like to think so, too. But I worry sometimes.”

“So, you like us, you really like us?” Dex teased.

Nursey sat up so they were next to each other on the bed--the way they'd started, actually. “Shut up.”

But Dex was imagining his summer. Busy with work as always, though he didn't hate the work itself as much as he hated having no choice, using all his time that could be spent doing something else. Imagining Nursey and Chowder there did make it sound much more appealing, and he knew suddenly that he was really, really going to miss them over the summer.

He thought back to yesterday, to when he'd told Nursey that they should try getting along and Nursey said that's what he was trying to do. It still didn't feel like that to Dex, so he had really no idea why he was so upset at the idea of not seeing him for a few months.

“You should Skype me,” he said, surprising even himself.

“Yeah, for sure.”

“No, I mean it.”

Nursey just looked amused. “Yeah, I know. I will. Believe me, I'll be bored at some point.”

Dex rolled his eyes; he wasn't exactly entertaining, so it wasn't like he'd be much help. The conversation seemed to have reached a natural close, but he didn't have to leave yet. Honestly, he didn't want to.

“I should go tell Bits we're still here,” Nursey said finally, and Dex bit back a complaint.

“Yeah,” he said, instead. “I'll be down in a minute.”

He watched as Nursey left, and looked around the room. It wasn't nearly big enough for both of them; they were going to have to get another bed, possibly a lofted one, otherwise they'd have to get rid of this one and get Ransom and Holster style bunk beds.

No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn't imagine next year. The stuff from his dorm room looked out of place in a room he vaguely remembered as Shitty’s, and now still imagined as Lardo’s.

He could hear Bitty talking to Nursey, and it was less than an hour until his parents were supposed to arrive. They tended to be early, anyway. Dex took one look around the room before he took a deep breath and exited. It sounded more interesting downstairs, anyway.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m definitely projecting onto Jack because I like a lot of parts of MA better than Providence… Pawtucket is OK, though.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for all the lovely comments on [my day 1 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11523792), [my day 2 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11534277), [my day 3 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11543352), and [my day 4 fic](http://archiveofourown.org/works/11552652).
> 
> Please comment anything! Especially criticism. Even if it's not constructive. But also any thoughts are accepted, tangential ones included.
> 
> Find me on tumblr as [loveandallthat](http://loveandallthat.tumblr.com/)! I take prompts for tons of fandoms and pairings. Plus, anon is open, if you're worried about saying something about my fic and attaching a username to it.


End file.
